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THIRD ADDRESS 



PEOPLE OF MARYLAND. 



WILLIAM H. COLLINS, 




OF BALTIMORE. 



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THIRD ADDRESS 



PEOPLE OF MARYLAND. 



WILLIAM H. COLLINS, 



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OF BALTIMORE. 




BALTIMORE: 

PRINTED BY JAMES YOUNG, 

114 WEST BALTIMORE STREET. 

1861. 






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Amidst all the troubles which surround us, it has been to 
me most fortunate that the paramount allegiance I owe to 
my country has been perfectly consistent with the loyal 
attachment I have ever felt for the State of Maryland. Her 
interests and honor, I believe, are firmly bound up in the 
Union. If that Union be broken, either on the Potomac or 
on Mason and Dixon's line, Maryland will receive a heavy 
blow. To part her from her sisters of the South is to para- 
lyze her left side ; whilst to separate her from her sisters of 
the North is to paralyze the right. Maryland is still in the 
Union. I believe her only safety is to be found in its per- 
petuity. 

It is often said that the boundaries of governments are 
fixed and controlled by advantages of trade and commerce ; 
that commercial prosperity is the first thing to be secured 
in settling the boundaries of a people. There is, however, 
another question which rises high above commercial advan- 
tages. Security is the master-principle. No State can at- 
tain high and permanent prosperity unless her boundaries 
are defensible by her sons ; whilst her women and children, 
her aged and infirm, are safe around their hearths, and her 
operatives free from interference with their industrial pur- 
suits. Liability to the occupation of the enemy during war, 
is fatal to any State. It will break down the spirit of a peo- 
ple. It exposes the women and children, the old and the 
infirm, to a series of insults and wrongs, at the mere contem- 
plation of which the heart sickens. No race can maintain 



its vigor unless its borders be defensible by tbe courage of 
/ £)i**r sons. 

What would England be but for her ocean srirth? What 
else defended her from the legions of Napoleon the Great? 
What else secures her now from the armies of tbe nephew, 
scarcely less great and powerful than the uncle ? Her belt 
of sea and her command of the ocean, have kept the 
homes, the agriculture, the manufactures, the trade of Eng- 
land, free from the injuries and insults of a foreign foe for 
hundreds of years. What would Switzerland be but for her 
mountain barriers ? The Alps long sustained the decaying 
grandeur of Rome. Nice and Savoy have recently fallen to 
France for reasons of military strategy. They lie on the 
French slant of the Alps. The boundary of the Rhine is at 
this moment the subject of daily anxious thought by the 
Emperor. No one knows better than he, how much that 
boundary would add to the security and grandeur of 
France. The longing gaze of Russia on Constantinople, 
ever since the clays of Peter the Great, reveals the security 
she would feel from the possession of the Straits of the Dar- 
danelles, and the consequent exclusive possession of the seas 
of Marmora and the Euxine. 

No nation ever had such boundaries as the United States. 
Oceans separate her from the vigorous civilizations of Eu- 
rope on the East, and the decaying nations of Asia on the 
West, for thousands of miles. The Gulf of Mexico and the 
Rio Grande on the South, divide her from the feeble govern- 
ment of Mexico ; whilst the Lakes and the St. Lawrence 
separate her from Canada on the North ; which though in 
many respects a fine country, can never prove our equal in 
power. Give us but internal peace, and the plough, the 
loom, and the anvil, may pursue their busy course, and our 
firesides for centuries to come will be free from the pollution 
of an invading foe. With free trade amongst ourselves, and 
abundant supplies of food, cotton, tobacco, coal, iron, tim- 
ber, and manufactures for other countries, our trade with 



the nations of tlie world will lay them almost under a neces- 
sity to maintain with us the most friendly relations. 

Such, People of Maryland, is the rich heritage you received 
from your ancestors. Efforts are now being made to divide 
this more than imperial domain. As a loyal son of my 
Country, I claim to lift my voice against the profanation. 1 
speak in the interests of no party. I acknowledge no party 
allegiance. I am for the whole country from Ocean to Ocean 
— from the Gulf of Mexico to the Lakes. I love it all. I 
seek the welfare and honor of the whole. It is all my Coun- 
try. Its glory is in union ; its dishonor is in separation. 

If, in some mad hour, whilst patriotism is drunk with 
the fumes of passion, a division should be proposed, where 
will you draw the line? If you consult the courses of 
streams and mountains, and a division must be had, it 
would naturally be into three parts. One, the great Valley of 
the Mississippi ; stretches from the Alleghany to the Rocky 
Mountains ; and from the Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and 
the Rio Grande. Nature says this whole region must be- 
long to one power, either by agreement or war. Another, 
the Atlantic slant, stretching from the Alleghanies to the 
Ocean, includes the North-Eastern States and a large part 
of Florida. This region is substantially the same as the 
old thirteen States of our Union. The other, the Pacific- 
slant, stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Ocean. 

If a separation must take place these divisions would be 
in accordance with natural boundaries and the necessities of 
strategic defence. But the Pacific slant does not wish to 
separate from the others. The great Valley of the Missis- 
sippi, which is bound together by common interests, and 
boundaries, and rivers, and outlets, can never belong to two 
nations. The owners of the streams above must have a 
common property with the owners of the lower part of that 
Valley in its noble outlet, and the shores of the great Gulf 
into which it flows. Treaties, conventions, agreements, are 
abrogated by war. The rich fields and prairies of the upper 



part of that great Valley, and the teeming alluvial plains of 
its lower part, must belong to one and the same government. 
He who shaped the world, and gave it its slants, and drains, 
and outlets, has left stamped on the natural features of this 
noble region His irrevocable decree, that one nation must 
own it, either by agreement or conquest. 

The Atlantic slant, including the New England States 
and the larger part of Florida, if it must, in some evil hour, 
separate from the great Valley of the Mississippi, would 
seem to be united by common interests in one government. 
Should a separation, however, take place in that slant, it 
seems to me there are reasons of the most imperative kind 
which would include in the northern part the whole of the 
waters of the Chesapeake Bay. 

Before stating my reasons for this opinion, and to bring 
the question nearer to the practical issues of the present day, 
it is, proper to say, that in the division of our country now 
sought to be made, it is proposed to ignore the boundaries 
imposed by nature, and to divide on artificial lines, depen- 
dent on the shifting accident of the peculiar kinds of labor 
used in different parts of the country. It is as if the wood- 
man should try to split rails against the grain and not 
with it. 

If, however, a line of separation is to be drawn on the At- 
lantic slant, where shall it run? I have already intimated 
that the Chesapeake Bay, and the streams emptying into it, 
together with the lands which they pierce and fertilize, will, 
for reasons stronger than human power, remain with the 
northern part of our Country. If I read the map aright. 
Nature has so willed it. 

It is deemed conclusive that, in the event of separation, 
the northern part of the Country will be the maritime power. 
He who doubts this would scarcely be trusted by the strong 
common sense of the American people. If any thing in the 
future can be foretold, this would seem to be certain. Let 
the men of business, the thinkers, the statesmen of our 
Country, ponder this proposition well. Much depends on it. 



To my apprehension it is as certain as any proposition can 
be which deals with the future. 

Some twenty miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake 
lies the Hampton Roads, one of the noblest harbors of the 
world. Large enough to float in security the navies of the 
earth, its mouth is narrow though of easy access. Fort- 
ress Monroe completely guards its entrance, and renders the 
harbor safe in war from an enemy. To the maritime power 
of our country that harbor, as a refuge from the tempest or 
the enemy, is of untold value. From the port of New York, 
and along the southern coast around the peninsula of Flori- 
da, no such harbor exists for the thousands of northern ships 
engaged in commerce with the Gulf of Mexico, or with 
South America, or around Cape Horn, or with the West 
Indies. In peace and in war, Fortress Monroe is to the 
northern part of our Country more precious than Gibralter 
is to England. When England agrees to give up Gibralter, 
then, and not till then, will the United States agree to sur- 
render Fortress Monroe and Hampton Roads. 

But the possession of the Hampton Roads involves abso- 
lute control over the commerce of Norfolk and Portsmouth, 
as also of the James River which empties into those roads 
south of Fortress Monroe. Will Virginia ever agree that 
the great harbor at the mouth of her noblest river, command- 
ing the commerce of Richmond and Petersburg, as also of 
her great commercial emporium, Norfolk, shall belong to a 
foreign power ? She cannot. She will not. It would be her 
utter ruin. Will the North ever agree to part with this no- 
ble harbor, so necessary to her commerce, and with the fort- 
ress which commands it ? Never ! Never ! 

The question then is, can Virginia, with the aid of her 
southern allies, take Fortress Monroe ? If the South had a 
navy stronger than that of the North, she might take it. 
But so long as the North is the maritime power, I suppose 
this fortress to be impregnable. Its garrison, if need be, 
can be relieved by fresh troops daily, its sick and wounded 
removed, its wants supplied even to the most minute, with- 



8 



out any possible interference by any troops on the land. I 
>ay notbing of the Rip Raps ; though that fort, if finished, 

as it can easily be, would add greatly to the command of the 
harbor, as also to the security of Fortress Monroe. 

Here then is the state of the question. Virginia must 
have the control of the mouth of the Hampton Roads. It is 
indispensable to her. Under our Union, it has been guarded 
and defended by the General Government, for the uses of 
Virginia, as also of all the States of the Union. The North 
cannot part with it. Virginia cannot part with it. The 
result is of necessity. Virginia and the Northern States 
must belong to one government, as they have done from the 
early colonial days. 

I have spoken of the Hampton Roads as they concern the 
Country at large, and the State of Virginia in particular. 
A- a citizen of Maryland, I have also a word to say. The 
State of Maryland, and especially the City of Baltimore. 
has an interest in the Hampton Roads, scarcely inferior to 
the State of Virginia herself. It is our outlying harbor, on 
our way to and from the sea. Its sheltering bosom floats 
annually, millions of our commerce, and thousands of our 
sailors. Maryland can never agree, under any circum- 
stances, that her right to use this harbor shall depend on 
any other tenure than its ownership by the Country to which 
belongs. The right to use this harbor in peace and war. 
is "lie of the noble blessings conferred by the Union on the 
State of Maryland. This right she can never surrender. 

The great Valley of the Snsqnehanna empties its waters 
into the Chesapeake Bay, and affords to that part of the 
State of Pennsylvania its cheapest and safest nutlet for her 
lumber, her iron, her coal, and a multitude of other heavy 
articles of commerce. These now mainly stop at ports* of the 
Chesapeake, either for local use. or trans-shipment to the 
ports of the world. The interests of the Valley of the Sus- 

shanna, in the free use, in peace and war, of the Hamp- 
ton Roads, though not so great as those of Maryland and 



Virginia, must nevertheless be locked to in the settlement of 
new boundaries, as now proposed. 

It is perfectly certain that the great State of Pennsylvania 
utterly repudiates even a suggestion of a separation by her 
from the Union. She is at this moment calling into vigor- 
ous effort her great military power to preserve the Union of 
all the States. She proposes, and will agree, to no division 
whatever. 

Eecent events have shown the utter impossibility of de- 
fending Maryland against the northern part of our Country. 
The South cannot do it — not from any want of courage or 
conduct in the field — but for reasons beyond her control. 
The North, in command of the waters of the Chesapeake 
Bay, could at the same time plant her columns at Annapo- 
lis, or land them on the waters of the Patuxent, or on the 
Sower borders of the Potomac, in numberless places, or march 
them by land to Cumberland, or Hagerstown, or Emmits- 
burg, or at the Maryland line where the Northern Central 
Railroad passes into Pennsylvania, or at various points on 
the Northern borders of Harford county. The Western 
Shore of Maryland is too small, and too deficient in strate- 
gic points, to allow for the deploying of large armies within 
her borders. If united with the South, she must be, by the 
ordination of nature, subject to the occupation of the North, 
in any contest it might wage with the South. Liability to 
such occupation must check the course of trade, of agricul- 
ture and commerce. Capital is proverbially timid. When 
the City of Baltimore belongs to a government that cannot 
defend her in war, she may bid farewell to those hopes of 
future greatness which her sons have fondly cherished. 

People of the Eastern Shore, have any of your sons fairly 
and frankly told you your helpless condition in the event of 
a separation by Maryland from the North on Mason and 
Dixon's line? The home of my ancestors was amongst you. 
My early thoughts and affections first took root and form on 
your venerated soil. My earliest memories are of your suns 
rising from the Atlantic and setting in the Chesapeake. 



10 



The rustle of your autumn leaves still lingers on my ear ; 
and my eyes see, as of yesterday, your woods adorned by a 
variety and splendor of foliage equalled no where else. The 
waters of the Pocomoke, where my ancestors, for many ge- 
nerations, dwelt on its lower banks, still flow by the grave 
of one, to whose self-denial and affection, I owe most that I 
deem valuable in life ; and of another, loved and honored, 
who stood in the place of the father, of whom the infant 
memory of the orphan failed to record a trace. The Mono- 
kin, on whose well remembered stream I took in the rudi- 
ments of knowledge, and those still holier lessons of truth 
and honor, gathered from the lips of a pure and noble Mo- 
ther ; the Wicomico, scarcely less familiar or less dear, the 
scene of many happy hours which did much towards shap- 
ing and controlling the current of my maturer thoughts. 
These, and the kindred, and friends, and people, who inha- 
bited their banks, are still sacred in the memories of the 
gray-haired man, as they were in the fresher days of his 
youth. People of the Eastern Shore, one at least of your 
sons, who though long parted from you, loves you most 
dearly, claims the right to tell you in plain language, the 
dangers that lie in wait if you leave the sheltering wing of 
the Union. 

If war takes place between the Nortb and the South what 
could you do? The North in command of the Chesapeake, 
could you come to the aid of your brethern of the Western 
Shore, or they go to you? The South could give you no 
protection. She could not get to you. If twenty or thirty 
thousand men were to march upon you from the open pass 
at the head of the Peninsula what would be your fate? Con- 
quered, subdued, the foot of the victor planted on your necks, 
none the more gently because you had renounced the Gov- 
ernment under which you had been happy, and whose sway 
was so gentle that you knew it only by its blessings. 

People of the Eastern Shore, I speak to you frankly. 
Many of you are the children of the friends of my youth. 
Some of you are of my own kith and kin. I have no politi- 



11 



cal aspirations. If I had, I trust there is manhood enough 
about me to spurn their gratification, except in the paths of 
truth and candor. I speak to you fearlessly but loyally, when 
I say that separation from the Union on Mason and Dixon's 
line is, to you, destruction. It is to assume a position you 
cannot maintain. The very Institution which would lead 
you to separation, would perish at once under the heel of the 
victor ; and you would receive such institutions as might in 
generosity be dealt out to you. If it were offered to you to- 
day, at your own free choice, and without question, to join a 
Southern Confederacy, with your northern border resting on 
Pennsylvania and Delaware, and you were to accept that 
offer, I say to you that the first war which might afterwards 
spring up with the North, would lead to your subjugation. 
The logic of events is irresistible. It is but another name 
for the unchangeable relation of cause and effect. Wo be- 
tide that man or that people who ventures to fly in the face of 
the decrees of Nature. 

It is not for me to speak to the two Eastern Shore Counties 
of Virginia; and yet it would seem to be clear that the sepa- 
ration of Virginia from the Union would end, and must end, 
in the separation of those two Counties from Virginia. 
Their destination, in that event, I do not choose to prophesy, 
though it would appear to be indicated by signs too clear to 
be mistaken. 

The Peninsula, composed of Delaware, the Eastern Shore 
of Maryland, and the two Eastern Shore Counties of Vir- 
ginia, lying between the Chesapeake and the Delaware River 
and Bay and the Atlantic, with an open mouth binding on 
Pennsylvania, and pierced in every direction by navigable 
streams and estuaries, cannot be defended by any Southern 
Confederacy. Situated between the two great Cities, Phil- 
adelphia and Baltimore, that Peninsula has the choice of 
the two markets of those commercial emporiums, whilst it 
belongs to our common Country. Divide that Country, and 
under laws of Nature higher than human laws, and stronger 
than human power, that region must cast its fortunes with 



12 



that part of the Union which can protect it in war, and to 
which in peace it would have to look for commerce and 
trade. Such are my firm and deep-rooted convictions, and 
in all the truth and candor of my soul I lay them before 
the people of the other Shore, as the offerings of a faithful 



son. 



If I err not in the preceding- positions, the conclusion 
would seem to be inevitable, that whatever may be the final 
result of the contest now unfortunately agitating our Coun- 
try to its foundations, the states of Virginia, Maryland, 
Delaware, and Pennsylvania, are bound together by ties so 
strong that separation between them is impossible; and that 
should a new government be formed in the South in conse- 
quence of the present, or any future conflict, those States, 
in the end, will stand by the Union, and by each other. 
Without the command of the Hampton Koads, the com- 
merce and maritime power of the North would be seriously 
crippled: without the free use of the Hampton Roads in 
peace and war, Virginia and Maryland would be crushed, 
and Pennsylvania. seriously injured. Even if Pennsylvania 
were willing to yield those Roads, the northern border of 
Mason and Dixon's line, if separating her from another na- 
tionality, would be to Maryland an indefensible border, in- 
volving her in all the horrors of military occupation by the 
enemy during any war which the South might wage with 
the North ; and, perhaps, in subjugation in the end. 

Where then can you draw a dividing line through the 
territory of the United States, from East to West? I an- 
swer, No where. If our Country ever finally separates, the 
dividing line can only run from North to South. Such I 
believe to be the ordination of Nature. Fortunately this 
division is not sought by any part of our Country. If it 
were, I should regard the crisis as infinitely more appalling. 
The struggle then would be to do that which, though un- 
wise, would not be inconsistent with the laws of Nature, as 
indicated by the courses of our mountains and streams. The 
effort now being made, is to divide us on some line, not only 



13 



without strategic points, but in violation of them ; dependent 
for its course, as to whether the dwelling of the laborer is 
now occupied by the Anglo-Saxon, or by the African race; 
utterly forgetful of the fact, that the productions of each re- 
gion are for the supply of the wants of the other ; and that 
mutual wants and the power of mutual supply, constitute 
one of the strongest ligaments to bind a people together. 
This I trust is as impossible as it is unwise and suicidal. 

It may perhaps be well to ask, Why is it that any part of 
our Country seeks a division of the Union ? That Union was 
once sacred in the eyes of the whole American people. To 
the eye of the true statesman it never was more important 
to the whole Country than now. Why then seek to dis- 
solve it? 

But for the institution of slavery in some of the States, we 
would now be a united and happy people. And yet it can- 
not be denied, that this institution existed when the govern- 
ment was formed, and that the people of all the States agreed 
to constitute a common government, notwithstanding the 
existence of this peculiar institution. As in marriage, they 
agreed to take each other for better and for worse, with a full 
knowledge of the existence of the institution now the subject 
of difficulty and contention. Is it fair, is it honorable then, 
to charge upon the South the evils of an institution,, the ex- 
istence of which the North knew when the government was 
formed, and notwithstanding which the government was ac- 
tually formed, and the Constitution adopted by all the States 
of the Union ? 

To this question, the only answer attempted by those who 
seek to re-open the terms of the Constitution, and to make 
war upon the institutions of a part of the country which ex- 
isted at the formation of the government, and which are re- 
cognized as so existing by the Constitution itself, has assumed 
the form of the "Higher Law." If this term means any 
thing, it is that the system of slavery was criminal at the 
time the government was formed, should have been then 
abolished, and that the Constitution of the United States is, 



14 



on this subject, mill and void, because it recognizes the ex- 
istence of an institution which is at Avar with the high and 
pure doctrines of Christianity, and also with the highest 
and soundest generalizations of the human intellect on the 
relations which men sustain to each other. 

Accordingly, the ownership of slaves has been made the 
test of Church membership in some of our largest ecclesias- 
tical bodies. Works of fiction have been written with much 
of the grace and glow of eloquence, for the purpose of hold- 
ing up the institution to the contempt and hatred of the good 
every where ; and the most wanton abuse has been heaped by 
one section of the Country upon the other. 

Asa consequence of this violent course on the one side, the 
opinions of the part of the Country where this institution ex- 
ists, have undergone very serious changes, and it has there 
been held by many to be an institution based upon the high- 
est moral and religious elements of our nature, and worthy 
to be encouraged and propagated, side by side, with the re- 
lations of husband and wife, parent and child. 

It is respectfully submitted, that both sections of the coun- 
try have, on this subject, fallen into grave error ; and that a 
clear comprehension of that error would do much towards, 
restoring our brotherhood and union. The North errs in 
supposing that Christianity undertakes to interfere with, or 
establish, or alter, the forms of government, or the political 
institutions where it may be introduced. This, I apprehend, 
is not its mission. That it may in the end produce whole- 
some ameliorations and changes in the political institutions 
of a Country, by means of the elevating and refining influ- 
ences it exerts on individual character, is most true. Except 
however as it works its noiseless way in the human soul, by 
purifying and ennobling its thoughts and emotions, Christi- 
anity does not prescribe any special form of government, or 
any particular set of political institutions. It enters alike 
the palace of the absolute sovereign, and the cottage of the 
humble laborer ; the mansion of the popular president, and 



15 



the dwelling of the citizen ; the princely halls of the master, 
and the humble cabin of the slave. In all these Christianity 
is equally at home ; to all she whispers the same lessons ; 
she bids each in his separate political sphere, whatever it may 
he, to purify and elevate his soul, and to accept with un- 
doubting loyalty her pure, but simple teachings. The em- 
peror and the laborer, the president and the citizen, the 
master and the slave, when brought under her holy and 
sublime teachings, each learns a lesson which makes him 
better fitted for the political duties to which the place as- 
signed him by the laws may call him. Christianity neither 
prohibits nor sanctions slavery ; but prescribes to both mas- 
ter and slave, if such there be, the respective duties assigned 
to their state. 

The political institutions of different Countries may widely 
differ, and } r et each be best adapted to the moral, intellectual 
and physical development of its own people. To the mere 
abstract thinker, it may be equally difficult to reconcile with 
the dictates of reason and justice, a hereditary peerage, with 
high legislative powers dependent on the mere accident of 
birth ; or the transmission by law of the whole of a vast 
landed estate to the eldest son, to the exclusion of a dozen 
others, his equals, or perhaps superiors, in all manly and 
noble qualities ; or a hereditary throne, perpetuated by 
marriages in foreign Countries, resulting of necessity in a 
line of sovereigns of a different race from that of the people 
they are born to govern ; or the subjection of a race to the 
condition of domestic slavery, because of the color of its skin, 
and its comparatively recent descent from savage African an- 
cestors. All these things may present equal difficulties in 
the field of mere abstract thought ; and yet the Englishman, 
as well as the American, might well stand aghast at any in- 
terference by rude and unfamiliar hands, with their peculiar 
institutions, interwoven as they are with the entire workings 
of their respective political systems. 

If slavery did not exist in our Country, its introduction 



16 



would be a calamity as well as a crime. It was a great but 
a necessary sacrifice when the fraraers of our Constitution 
consented to the continuance of the African slave-trade for 
twenty years. The formation of the Government depended 
on that sacrifice, and it was made. Other concessions were 
also made in framing the Constitution, and rightfully made; 
because slavery was an existing institution, and had to be 
provided for. Let those provisions stand. Leave the mas- 
ter and the slave to work out their own destiny, under those 
kindly and affectionate relations which exist between them 
in numberless cases, to the equal honor of both. This, in 
my judgment, is the course approved by sound reason and 
an enlightened Christianity. It would be the crime of the 
age to break in upon this relation, as it exists in our Country, 
by any interference from without the States where it exists. 
Let the Southern man alone; do not anger him by unwar- 
ranted interference or abuse; and the North may be assured 
that, under the kindly sympathies of our nature, the South 
will ponder long and patiently over the ultimate means of 
disposing of a relation which, though a necessity in many 
places now, may, in the progress of events, cease to be so ; 
and the removal of which by his own free act, at some future 
time, may take from off the heart of the master a load 
heavier than that which rests on the slave. 

With profound diffidence, and yet impelled by a passion- 
ate love for my country — its honor and glory — I desire, Peo- 
ple of Maryland — People of the United States — if I may 
dare address so imperial an audience — to lay before you the 
thoughts of a loyal son, as to the way of removing the dif- 
ficulties under which the Country now labors ; and which 
will surely end her career, unless this young nation, rising 
with lion-heart, resolves to defend the Union at all hazards, 
and to all extremities. Honor, patriotism, manhood, in- 
voke this high resolve. Such I understand to be the Na- 
tional will. I share it. In the inmost depths of my soul, 
and with its most passionate impulses, I share it. I would 



17 



sooner dishonor my Mother's grave, or my Father's ashes, 
than raise my hand or my voice against the Union. Let it 
stand — let it stand — with ever increasing grandeur and glo- 
ry, till the sun shall cease to gild the East with his morning 
rays, or to paint with golden pencil the evening clouds of 
the West, 

If the South were asked whether she is willing to continue 
in the Union on any terms, what would be her answer? If 
that answer be, No, then it is for the manhood of the 
faithful sons of the Country, to maintain, against all comers, 
the National Flag and the National Union. It is lawful, it 
is honorable, to strike even a brother, if it be in defence of 
a mother. Utterly as I abhor civil war, I abhor disunion 
more. To divide our imperial domain for the sake of peace, 
would be a national weakness. It would be to shed rivers 
of blood in the future to save rivulets now. So long as the 
answer of the South to the question proposed is, No, the 
arbitrament of arms can only solve the issue. 

But if our brethren of the South — for I still regard and 
love them as such — in answer to the question will say, Yes, 
then the whole phase is changed. That answer should 
be received with tears and embraces. The heart of the 
country would again beat in its old healthful tone — and the 
cry of the Nation would be, Let a Convention be called in 
conformity with the provisions of the Constitution. Let the 
best and wisest National men be elected as members of that 
august council, and let such amendments be proposed for 
the sanction of the States of the Union as will bind our 
people once more in the enduring bonds of brotherhood and 
peace. 

Various propositions have been made, based upon such 
amendments of the Constitution as would be satisfactory to 
the Country. And yet it has seemed to me that deeper cautery 
is needed to cure the national ulcer at its root. May I then 
humbly venture to indicate amendments to the Constitution, 



18 



which, I suppose, are called for by the exigency of the 
times. 

First. — A declaratory amendment, that in all future con- 
structions of the Constitution, it shall he held that the Union 
of the States thereunder is, and shall be perpetual ; and can 
and shall he sustained and upheld by- the Government of the 
United States, all ordinances of any State Legislature, or of 
any State Convention to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Second. — An express declaration, that in all future con- 
structions of the Constitution, Congress shall have full pow- 
er, either by a tariff on imports, or by excise laws, or by 
direct taxes, or by any one, or more, or all of these modes, 
to raise whatever money may be required by the government ; 
kand that in apportioning the duties on imports, Congress 
may, in its sound discretion, take into view such protection 
to American industry as it may deem wise and proper. 

Third. — An amendment, prohibiting the acquisition of 
any more territory by the United States, except by the con- 
sent of nineteen-twentieths of all the Senators of the United 
States. 

Fourth. — An amendment, prohibiting the importation of 
slaves from the Coast of Africa, or from any foreign country. 

Fifth. — All the territories of the United States, now or 
hereafter owned, to be open to the introduction of slaves from 
any of the United States, or the territories thereof, and to be 
there held, so long as the same shall remain a territory ; and 
that when said territory shall be admitted as a State, it shall 
be with or without slavery, as its constitution may provide. 

Sixth. — Absolute non-interference by Congress with the 
system of slavery in any State, in which the same may be 
established by the laws thereof. 

Seventh. — Absolute non-interference with slavery by the 
United States, in all the arsenals, dock-yards and forts 
thereof, located within the limits of any State, so long as 
slavery shall exist in such State by the laws thereof. 

Eighth. — An absolute prohibition of the abolition, by the 



19 



Government of the United States, of slavery in the District 
of Columbia, so long as any State of the Union shall permit 
slavery therein. 

Ninth. — Congress shall pass no law regulating or prohi- 
biting the carrying of slaves from one slave State to another 
slave State ; but that the same shall be subject only to the 
laws of the respective States from and to which such carry- 
ing shall take place. 

Tenth. — An amendment, carefully drawn, by which the 
whole duty of delivering up persons "held to service or 
labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into 
another," shall be imposed on the Government of the Unit- 
ed States; and containing an absolute prohibition of any 
State-interference with the subject; the delivery of such 
person or persons to be made by the United States in the 
State from which such person or persons escaped, with pro- 
vision for the trial in said last named State, in due course of 
law, by the courts of the United States, in case the facts 
upon which the proceeding is based are denied by such per- 
son or persons. If the officer of the United States charged 
with making the arrest or delivery of such person or per- 
sons, be prevented from doing so by any person or persons 
whatever, he shall return such fact to the United States' 
Court of the State where such resistance shall have been 
made, and it shall be the duty of said Court to pass an or- 
der directing the treasurer of the United States to pay the 
full value of said person or persons so claimed to be held to 
labor to the owner thereof, and all costs of Court and twen- 
ty-five per cent, additional for contingent expenses; and it 
shall be the duty of such treasurer to pay the same on de- 
mand; the said amount to be retained by the United States, 
together with six per cent, interest thereon from the time of 
payment, out of any monies that may thereafter be payable 
by the United States to the State in which the officer of the 
United States may have been prevented from making the 
arrest, or delivery as aforesaid. 



20 



Eleventh. — An amendment should be made, cutting up by 
the roots the doctrine of political proscription, and the con- 
sequent scramble for office, which has well nigh proved our 
ruin. This I am aware is a delicate and difficult task ; but 
something would be achieved by requiring, in every case, 
that the officer who has the power of removal should be re- 
quired to report, on his official responsibility, the reasons for 
said removal to the Senate of the United States. 

Twelfth. — There should be an explicit declaration as to 
who may exercise the power of suspending the privilege of 
the writ of habeas corpus, " when in cases of rebellion, or 
invasion, the public safety may require it." This question 
should be settled clearly, one wa} r or the other. It is a great 
question, and requires, for the safe disposition of it, an en- 
larged statesmanship. Fortunately, this question is as 
broad as the Country, and equally concerns the whole peo- 
ple. No doubt there are also other amendments of the Con- 
stitution which might be wisely proposed, but it is not 
deemed advisable to suggest them now. 

People of the North, say not that these concessions are 
too large. People of the South, say not that they are too 
small. Could they be introduced into our Constitution by 
amendments made according to its provisions, all just causes 
of complaint would be removed from every section of the 
Country ; and the nation would once more present to the 
world the great example of a united, free, and happy peo- 
ple, bound to each other by indissoluble ties, and able to 
defend our rights against all who may dare to invade them. 

The first proposed amendment, by finally strangling the 
hydra of secession, would be of more worth to our Country 
than mountains of gold. The second would relieve our leg- 
islative halls from all discussions as to the constitutionality of 
a tariff, and leave it, as it should be left, to the sound legis- 
lative discretion of Congress. The third would present to 
the world a noble example of a nation contented with her 
boundaries ; and well may we be so, for they enclose an im- 
perial area free from the invasion of all foreign foes. The 



21 



fourth is intended to prevent the possibility of future ques- 
tions, and would not raise serious objections in any part of 
the Country. 

The fifth proposed amendment is a concession to the South, 
which I think it would be right and wise to make. It would 
cut up by the roots a question which has well nigh shattered 
our magnificent Empire. If no more territory is to be ac- 
quired, may I not say to our brethren of the North, Refuse 
not this concession to your brethren of the South. Produc- 
tion and climate will soon settle the institutions of all the 
territory we now own. In the judgment of many, of the 
territory now owned by the Government, there is no part 
fitted for slave labor. Be that as it may, the concession 
would be in the spirit which first framed the Constitution ; 
and would aid much in the restoration of peace, harmony, 
and brotherly love. 

The sixth and seventh proposed amendments are fair and 
just, and ought to be freely conceded. The eighth is also, 
in my judgment, right and proper, as the southern man may 
well claim the right at all times hereafter to take the domes- 
tic attendants on himself and family, when he may visit the 
Capital of his Country, either for business or pleasure. The 
ninth is fair. Let the migration of slaves from one State to 
another, be dependent on the laws of the respective States. 
This right the southern man will never willingly yield. 

The tenth proposition is but the fair carrying out of a 
clear provision of the Constitution. Honor, fairness, and 
patriotism all demand that it shall be fully enforced. The 
best plan of getting clear of personal-liberty laws of the 
States, intended to interfere with this right, is for the Con- 
stitution to deny all right of State interference with persons 
held by the process of the United States, as fugitives from 
service or labor. Surely the honor of the Government may 
be trusted that it will see no injustice be done in exe- 
cuting this power. 

The eleventh amendment proposed, if the object can be 
achieved without destroying the efficiency of Executive ac- 



22 



tion, would be hailed throughout the country as giving 
fresh life and vigor to our institutions. The twelfth deals 
with a difficult question ; at the same time it is clearly right 
that the Constitution should speak in clear and explicit 
terms onthat delicate and important subject. 

These, People of my Country, are amendments which, if 
adopted, would, in my poor judgment, place the American 
people once more on the road to glory and renown. I offer 
them to you in the fullness of my heart, as my contri- 
bution to the welfare of a Government, in fidelity to which 
my heart knows no shadow of turning. I invoke the grave 
and patriotic thinkers of our land to pass judgment on 
them. 

Put down the doctrine of secession forever as to the fu- 
ture; leave our revenues to be laid and collected, to the ex- 
tent of our wants, to the sound discretion of Congress ; without 
any possibility of constitutional question in the future; let 
the bounds of the Republic be closed except by unanimous 
consent; let the foreign slave-trade be absolutely prohibited: 
leave the territories, whilst such, free for the occupation of 
all our citizens with their institutions; proclaim absolute 
non-interference by the Government with slavery in the 
States where it may exist by the laws thereof; adopt the 
same rule in regard to all the United States arsenals, dock 
yards, and forts where, and whilst, they may be situate 
in slave States; give the right to all our citizens to visit and 
sojourn in the District of Columbia with their families and 
their attendants, so long as slavery may exist in any State 
in the Union ; leave the States, respectively, to regulate 
the passing of slaves from one slave State to another slave 
State; let the Government undertake the entire question of 
the surrender of fugitives from service or labor; strike dead, 
by constitutional enactment, all power in the States to inter- 
fere, by personal-liberty laws or otherwise, with the action 
of the General Government in the premises, and provide a 
fair compensation to the owner, in case such surrender shall 
be prevented by force of any kind ; annihilate the doc- 



23 



trine of political proscription ; and make clear and speci- 
fic constitutional declarations as to the suspension of the 
writ of habeas corpus, and by whom, and you will lay 
deep the foundations of our National Union, and restore, 
once more, throughout the North and the South, the East 
and the West, that deep rooted love for the whole Country 
which must ever constitute the true strength of the nation. 

Do these things, and we shall never again behold the sad 
spectacle of American citizens dwarfing their loyalty to a 
State, rather than enlarging it to the Country. Do these 
things, and the words, the Union andthe Constitution, will 
once more tower in lofty majesty over those far inferior 
words, the North or the South, the East or the West. 
Let it but once be admitted that the paramount loyalty of 
the citizen is due to the General Government, and this na- 
tion will no more have cause to grieve over the course of 
many of her children, who in their love for their particular 
State, or section, seem to have forgotten that they have a 
Country. 

The Genius of America, of late, has shed bitter tears over 
the desertion of many of her sons whom she had trained 
under her banners, and to whom she believed she might 
safely commit the Flag of the Nation on every field and 
against every foe. Others have proved worthy of her care 
and confidence, and are ready this day to uphold the National 
Flag against father, brother, child or state. May I say to 
these noble men, You are treading in the track trodden bv 
heroes before you. In sustaining your Country against all 
enemies, domestic or foreign, you show that you understand 
full well the duties of an American citizen — a name prouder 
and more sacred than that which the great Apostle vouched 
as his protector and shield. 

Amongst these brave and noble men, the tall and venera- 
ble form of their great Chief stands proudly pre-eminent. 
Virginia gave him birth, in days when she devoted from the 
cradle the noblest of her sons to the Country. She formed 
his soul too great to vield its allegiance to a State or a sec- 



24 



tion. Amidst her tears, the Genius of our country smiles 
fondly on him, the greatest and truest of her living sons. 
Others have faltered : he has proved true. In many a hat- 
tie-field he has borne our flag so bravely, that the future 
Plutarch may well hesitate, whether the greater glory has, 
by him. been received from, or conferred on, the stars and 
stripes. Venerable man ! a nation prays that you may live 
to see your Country once more united and happy : and when 
in the fullness of time your weeping countrymen shall, with 
reverent care, commit your noble form to its last resting- 
place, another will have been added to the sacred places of 
our Country, where American youth may best learn the sim- 
ple but grand lessons of courage, conduct and fidelity. 

People of Maryland, the kindness with which many of 
you have heretofore heard me, has encouraged me to speak to 
you again. I shrink with apprehension lest any one should 
suppose that I seek notoriety. Those of you who know me 
will bear witness that, so far from seeking the public gaze, 
my life has been passed in the secluded paths of my profes- 
sion. I speak to you now, because my soul is moved to its 
utmost depths, by the — perhaps — dying struggles of my 
Country. Hot tears have stained these pages. I am not 
ashamed to confess it. I watch the throes of my Country as 
I would the dying bed of a mother ; impotent to give help, 
and yet impelled by feelings beyond my control, to attempt 
any conceivable aid. It may be that aid will be of no avail: 
and yet I cannot but struggle, as best I may, to avert the 
terrible blow which aims to strike from my soul the pride, 
the love, the homage, the worship, which, for sixty years, 
it has borne for the Union. If that blow fail of its fell pur- 
pose, I will give thanks to God for the greatest earthly bless- 
ing that could be conferred upon me. If it succeed, it will 
be but left for me to shed over the ruins of my Country, 
tears more bitter, more scalding, than those which water 
the grave of a pure and noble Mother. 

WILLIAM H. COLLINS. 

Baltimope. September 2, 1861. 



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